The story telling taxi man
They are all coming after me!
I’ve been meaning to tell you guys about something weird. It’s sort of an incident that happened to me and probably happened to you guys at one point.
Last month I was actually late for work for three times in a row. Don’t ask me why but I think its because I do have a knack to sleep really late. Anyways, sorry for the digress. So I took a cab just to make sure I get there faster than taking the casual bus. Now we all know that most taxi drivers are good at two things. The first one is sending us to the location we want and the second one is making casual conversation. Usually I tend to just listen to what they have to say but sometimes if the topic is good, I would just butt in and assimilate with the conversation. This taxi driver, I’ll name him Ah Seng, was a Chinese guy, around 40s and has a good command of English. The first thing he starts to talk about is the government and how idiotic they are to keep changing the ID card because of some technical issue and then he started talking about how the rates and the charges of taxis are higher than before. He went on and on still about how Malaysia is not how it used to be and even after Hari Merdeka, Malaysians are not really Merdeka yet. Then it was about how kids nowadays are insanely rude and not respecting the elders and joining gangs until the focus on how cellphones are an important item to almost everyone today and how hard it is to buy one – for the middle and lower class people.
I was in awe how perceptive this Ah Seng is and couldn’t help but gave him a tip for that entertaining conversation (I do this sometimes).
The next day I was late again. So I took the taxi and this time it was an Indian Muslim guy that drove me to work. His name for now would be Ahmad and he’s very jovial and interesting as he had character the moment I stepped into his humble taxi. Now Ahmad loved to talk, it’s probably because of his personality but the topic that he brought up was the same as what Ah Seng told me! It was almost too good to be true to hear the same stories again. So I listen and upon arrival I gave him extra for the entertaining conversation, which I heard before.
The third day, as usual, I was late again. This time it was an Indian guy that drove me to work. This Indian guy, I’ll name him Rajesh, is quiet and very humble. He knew the fastest way to my office and he tells me the reasons that I already know. The whole ride was actually quite charming because he regularly talks and I was left with my mp3 player. Out of the blue, I decided to see what happens if I begin a story like the previous cab drivers – on how he would respond. To my shock, Rajesh became quite social like and started telling me the same story again but modified yet the contents was the same!
And again upon arrival, I gave him extra for the repeat of the entertaining yet the same conversation.
In conclusion, what I want to know is, have the taxi drivers came up with a story that could gain them more money?
Is there a conspiracy against people like me that pays for a good conversation?
Am I just too damned nice?
What’s going on here? Is this the future of Taxi? Storytelling while sending customers to their respected locations.
I’ve been meaning to tell you guys about something weird. It’s sort of an incident that happened to me and probably happened to you guys at one point.
Last month I was actually late for work for three times in a row. Don’t ask me why but I think its because I do have a knack to sleep really late. Anyways, sorry for the digress. So I took a cab just to make sure I get there faster than taking the casual bus. Now we all know that most taxi drivers are good at two things. The first one is sending us to the location we want and the second one is making casual conversation. Usually I tend to just listen to what they have to say but sometimes if the topic is good, I would just butt in and assimilate with the conversation. This taxi driver, I’ll name him Ah Seng, was a Chinese guy, around 40s and has a good command of English. The first thing he starts to talk about is the government and how idiotic they are to keep changing the ID card because of some technical issue and then he started talking about how the rates and the charges of taxis are higher than before. He went on and on still about how Malaysia is not how it used to be and even after Hari Merdeka, Malaysians are not really Merdeka yet. Then it was about how kids nowadays are insanely rude and not respecting the elders and joining gangs until the focus on how cellphones are an important item to almost everyone today and how hard it is to buy one – for the middle and lower class people.
I was in awe how perceptive this Ah Seng is and couldn’t help but gave him a tip for that entertaining conversation (I do this sometimes).
The next day I was late again. So I took the taxi and this time it was an Indian Muslim guy that drove me to work. His name for now would be Ahmad and he’s very jovial and interesting as he had character the moment I stepped into his humble taxi. Now Ahmad loved to talk, it’s probably because of his personality but the topic that he brought up was the same as what Ah Seng told me! It was almost too good to be true to hear the same stories again. So I listen and upon arrival I gave him extra for the entertaining conversation, which I heard before.
The third day, as usual, I was late again. This time it was an Indian guy that drove me to work. This Indian guy, I’ll name him Rajesh, is quiet and very humble. He knew the fastest way to my office and he tells me the reasons that I already know. The whole ride was actually quite charming because he regularly talks and I was left with my mp3 player. Out of the blue, I decided to see what happens if I begin a story like the previous cab drivers – on how he would respond. To my shock, Rajesh became quite social like and started telling me the same story again but modified yet the contents was the same!
And again upon arrival, I gave him extra for the repeat of the entertaining yet the same conversation.
In conclusion, what I want to know is, have the taxi drivers came up with a story that could gain them more money?
Is there a conspiracy against people like me that pays for a good conversation?
Am I just too damned nice?
What’s going on here? Is this the future of Taxi? Storytelling while sending customers to their respected locations.
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